A LORRY driver who killed a mum-of-two riding a bike has been spared jail...after her grieving husband intervened.

Alan Warwick, 61, who lives in Rayleigh, was driving a construction vehicle when he hit cyclist Claire Hitier-Abadie, 36, at a busy junction in Victoria, London, on February 19 last year.

Southwark Crown Court heard Mrs Hitier-Abadie was “instantly killed” during the morning rush hour.

Mr Warwick admitted he had been tidying his cab at the time of the crash and failed to indicate left at the junction of Bressenden Place and Victoria Street.

Judge Peter Testar said the victim’s husband had been in touch and asked him not to jail Warwick.

He said: "A period of inadvertence took away one life and ravaged many more.

"I am comforted in the conclusion that I have reached that a non-custodial sentence is the correct one, by my knowledge that it is the one that Mr Abadie wanted me to reach."

Warwick was instead ordered to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work after he admitted one count of causing death by careless driving.

He was also disqualified from driving for 12 months.

Mrs Hitier-Abadie, from Marylebone, had been due to catch a train to start a new job in Leatherhead.

Prosecutor Ian Paton said: "She was visible and obvious, her coat was billowing behind her as she moved, she was bare-legged. She was manifestly visible."

Mr Paton said Warwick was “tidying his cab” and not focussing on his surroundings.

He added: "This was more than momentary inattention. It was a sustained period of inattention in circumstances that were ripe for the disaster that duly unfolded.”

The court heard the lorry had external cameras that would have allowed Warwick to see Mrs Hitier-Abadie.

It was also told how Warwick initially thought he had indicated to turn left but after reviewing footage of the incident he accepted that he had not.

Ian Bridge, mitigating, said Warwick had hugged Mr Abadie and apologised as they both cried together after his plea hearing.